Refugee learns English, named dux at top Aussie school

A SYRIAN refugee who began learning English less than five years ago has graduated as dux at one of Australia's largest Catholic high schools.

Saad Al-Kassab fled the Syrian city of Homs in 2013 with his family as the country was engulfed in a civil war which has killed more than 400,000 people.

This week he was honoured as dux of Melbourne's Catholic Regional College Sydenham, after earning an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank of 96.65. It equates roughly to an OP 2 in the Queensland system.

"To be honest, I was expecting a high score, but it felt so good to see it," he told ABC News.